Re: Generate Array of Hashes WITHOUT References

An array is a list of scalars. Hashes are not scalars. Ergo, arrays cannot contain hashes.

There are two workarounds if you want to store a hash in an array:

References are scalars. Therefore, you can store a reference to a hash in an array.
Strings are scalars. If you can serialize the hash into a string, you can store that in an array.

There is no #3, and it is almost always a terrible idea to choose #2 over #1.

Why exactly are you trying to avoid using references?

Comment on Re: Generate Array of Hashes WITHOUT References

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Re^2: Generate Array of Hashes WITHOUT References by tel2 (Pilgrim) on Sep 10, 2014 at 10:41 UTC
Thanks for that, toby. I like to avoid references where there's a simple alternative, because in my case it saves brain power. I seemed to recall that this could be done without this kind of method: `$rec->{$key} = $value;` and it seems I was right, as I can use: `$rec{$key} = $value;` and I see no advantage of the former method, as the latter is more familiar, concise, and simpler for me, so that's what I'll use. It seems the only place I need to refer to the hash as a reference is when I push it onto the array, which I'm OK with.	[reply] [d/l] [select]

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Re^2: Generate Array of Hashes WITHOUT References
by tel2 (Pilgrim) on Sep 10, 2014 at 10:41 UTC

I like to avoid references where there's a simple alternative, because in my case it saves brain power. I seemed to recall that this could be done without this kind of method:
$rec->{$key} = $value;
and it seems I was right, as I can use:
$rec{$key} = $value;
and I see no advantage of the former method, as the latter is more familiar, concise, and simpler for me, so that's what I'll use. It seems the only place I need to refer to the hash as a reference is when I push it onto the array, which I'm OK with.

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